Book Review: Sick in the Head

In addition to reading all sorts of Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, I've always had a soft spot for non-fiction, and specifically memoirs.

So when I heard about Judd Apatow's Sick in the Head: Conversations about Life and Comedy I quickly added it to my must-read list.  The book is a series of interviews between Apatow and comedians dating back from the early eighties (when a high-school-aged Apatow began interviewing comedians) and 2014.  Each interview includes about a page of context for the interview, letting the reading know when the interview was done and under what circumstances.

The book is pretty great - the interviews move from delightful to instructive to heart-wrenching and often hilarious, and about halfway through I started creating a list of the friends I think would really enjoy the book.

My only complaint with the book, which happens to be the same one I had with Apatow's previously book I Found This Funny, is that the collection is organized alphabetically by author/interviewee.  Although a fair enough way to organize the book, I felt that chronological order would have worked a bit better, with just a little wiggle room, using the 1983 and 2014 interviews with Jerry Seinfeld as bookends.  

Regardless of order; the book takes a great look at the business of comedy, how it affects those who make a career at it and also works as a descriptive journey through Apatow's career as stand up comedian, writer, director, producer and most recently stand up comedian again.

An excellent read.